Sunday, June 25, 2006

Chilli Crab made easy!


We drove past a wholesale supplier of crabs yesterday afternoon and the whole car was suddenly struck with a crab craving ;D Detoured to the crab shop for a bagful of Sri Lankan crab pincers ($13 per kg) and huge oysters the size of mussels. I had visions of crab cakes served with tomato salsa sauce but pragmatism reigned that day and my parents decided that Chilli Crab a la Singapore was to be served for dinner.

This is a recipe tip for those who are thinking of duplicating the famous local delight at home - we tried the Prima brand of pre-mixed gravy and the taste was almost as good as the chilli crab dish from Jumbo Seafood restaurant :) Prima products can be purchased at supermarkets and Prima Deli bakeries.

Bon Appetit!

stormiii at 11:05 pm

0cups of tea

Thursday, June 22, 2006

Fusion

Hayashi-san chopping up the tomatoes with flair!

This has got to be the first time that my Mom and I attended a culinary workshop together ;D The Lifeskills & Lifestyle department @ the People's Association organised a number of interesting fusion culinary classes for June and we attended the Japanese-Italian workshop taught by Tsukasa Hayashi. There were about 15 participants including one "food interest group" made up of Ngee Ann Poly students...maybe I should start one too...!

Hayashi-san is based in Hokkaido and has his own restaurant/food consultancy business, etc. The three recipes that he demonstrated were creative, very simple and suitable even for beginners! As the class size was small, we were able to ask him various questions about cooking and had lots of fun in the process :) Mom even asked him about the secret to a good Japanese curry and ramen recipe!

But here's my fave part...of course ;D

Cold Tomato Pasta - a spicy tomato salsa sauce with strong hints of garlic balanced with soy sauce on spaghetti.


Tuna Carpaccio (maguro or tuna sashimi) with a soy sauce, olive oil and white wine vinegar based dressing served with a refreshing salad. This could be our substitute for yu sheng next Chinese New Year!

The final dish was a Tofu Tiramisu dessert but no pictures unforunately, it just went straight into my mouth...

******


Do you remember this "Arctic Roll" or ice cream cake from your childhood?! I saw it at the supermarket and decided to top off my afternoon off from work with a dose of nostalgia and erm, sugar too ;P It seemed smaller now though. Sigh...nothing beats those "good 'ol days"!

stormiii at 8:09 pm

2cups of tea

Saturday, June 03, 2006

Mom's Birthday


It appears that Mom tries to outdo her birthday bash each year :D Usually it is herb-infused dishes at Beijing's "Tong Ren Tang Imperial Kitchen" but this year she decided to live it up at Shangri-la Hotel's "The Line"! Boasting "16 theatre kitchens and 58 culinary artists" and a retro-swanky decor, The Line is the newly refurbished Garden Cafe, from where one has a lovely view of the hotel's famed lush, tropical gardens and swimming pool...

For a hefty $70++ buffet dinner, you would expect really excellent stuff and The Line certainly delivered from the fresh seafood to the mind boggling array of international cuisine and customer oriented staff. Of course it didn't hurt to have a cute looking chef serve up laksa followed by a "sud" looking waiter who promptly relieved you of one too many plates ;D



A Valrhona chocolate fountain was even included at the delectable dessert station :D Sadly, the choclate's thickness paled in comparison to the one from Fullerton but the plump strawberries saved the day :)

The Line is currently having a few promotions, the most attractive one being the FREE two way cab ride for a lunch party of 4 on weekdays. Otherwise, seafood addicts can also live it up at their "Marine Harvest" dinner buffet ($88++) on Thursdays only.

stormiii at 6:54 pm

1cups of tea